The Easton EON complete beginner stick is the newest beginner stick to hit the market. This stick is meant for the new player jumping into the game and looking to find a stick that will help them develop into the next star on the field. The EON provides an alternative option for the up and coming player. The shaft is the standard 6000 series alloy that is available on all beginner sticks so I will not focus much on that since it is pretty standard.
Stiffness 8.5 out of 10. The EON is reasonably flexible which for a beginning player is perfect, since these players will inevitably hit a few snags along the way where a super stiff head would break and a super flexible head would just cause more problems. The EON provides the flexibility to allow mistakes without having to worry about breaking the head early on.
Stringing 9 out of 10. The EON like all of Easton’s heads has plenty of stringing holes for those who plan to restring their sticks. Most beginner players are hampered by poor stringing on beginner sticks, Easton realized this and took time to make sure there was a playable pocket right off the shelf for the newer players. The mesh used on the EON is a semi hard mesh that will provide consistency while not taking time to break in which for most new players can be frustrating.
Touch 6 out of 10. The EON feels great to hit the wall for a practice session with but most players will transition out of their first stick within the first year and the EON will feel significantly different from any other head on the market. The EON for older players will remind them of the old onset SAMs and Barneys since it is a completely onset head without the option of an adjustable offset available on the more expensive Easton heads. Though this head does give a good feel for playing catch it may hamper a player from advancing to a more competitive model of lacrosse stick.
Scoop 1 out of 10. The EON has the same problem as the higher level Easton lacrosse heads in that the scoop makes it very hard to pick up the ball even for a player with years of experience. I do feel that this will further be a hampering factor for the new player learning to get their hips low and bottom hand down.
Looks 8 out of 10. The EON comes in a couple colors namely black with a split color shaft which I think will appeal to the younger player pretty easily. I won’t focus on looks because new and old players alike should never focus on the appearance of a piece of gear but the performance value.
The EON complete stick is going to swing a 6.5 out of 10 overall. This may seem low but it is Easton’s first real attempt at a beginner stick, keeping costs low and performance competitive is a hard compromise and with the high quality of their stringing they’ve already figured out what some of their competitors haven’t, a good string job will help a new player far more than colors and cool sidewall designs. I hope Easton continues in this path of stringing solid sticks for the consumer. For the new player out there I would give the Easton EON a look next to the other options on the shelf.
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Photo by Kendra J Harriston